ALEXANDRIA, Va. – In a shocking betrayal of trust, a former Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office deputy has been sentenced to six years and six months in prison for conspiring to distribute drugs and sex trafficking.
Robert Theodore Sanford Jr., 37, was found guilty of conspiring to distribute drugs, including fentanyl, cocaine, and Suboxone, to an inmate at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center (Fairfax ADC) in exchange for bribe payments.
Sanford also supplied latex gloves and glue to the inmate to help conceal the contraband. The inmate then trafficked the drugs to other inmates. Outside Fairfax ADC, Sanford procured drugs from the inmate’s associates and distributed them to women who lived in and prostituted themselves out of an apartment that Sanford leased.
“Robert Sanford preyed on the vulnerabilities of people in his care,” said Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “His corruption didn’t stop with profiting from feeding the addictions of inmates in his charge. Rather than assisting homeless and addicted members of his community, Sanford used drugs to entrap them in a life of prostitution for his own gain.”
Sanford provided the inmate with information such as advance warning of cell searches by deputies, cell blocks to which deputies were proceeding in those searches, whether deputies would be conducting strip searches, and where drug-sniffing dogs were being utilized. Sanford also provided the inmate with information regarding other inmates, including which inmates might be providing information to law enforcement, which assisted Sanford’s co-conspirator in intimidating potential witnesses.
“Robert Sanford violated his oath as a sworn law enforcement officer by distributing contraband, drugs, and confidential information to inmates, who then trafficked the drugs into the detention center,” said David Geist, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division. “Additionally, he placed the lives of inmates and his law enforcement peers in danger. Sanford threatened the security of the community and abused the public trust.”
Sanford was sentenced on June 21, 2023 in the Eastern District of Virginia. He will serve a total of 82 months in prison for his crimes.
Related Federal Cases
- Kenneth Ray Matthews, Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine, Virginia 2024 · Maryland
- Gordon Reaves Parker, Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances, Virginia 2024 · Virginia
- Chad Piazza Admits Meth Trafficking Conspiracy, Beaumont TX, 2014 · Oklahoma
- Donna Byrd Talley, Hydrocodone Pill Trafficking, Virginia 2024 · Virginia
- Robert G. Ross, Insurance Theft, Virginia 2023 · Virginia
Key Facts
- State: Virginia
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Sex Crimes|Public Corruption
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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